Ex-corrections officer gets probation for torturing, killing dog in Saginaw County [Video]

SAGINAW, MI — Jacob S. Wilkinson, an ex-corrections officer who also served as a combat medic in the National Guard, has been sentenced to two years’ probation for torturing and killing a dog, leaving the duct-taped and bullet-riddled carcass in a Saginaw County ditch.

While the crime is a seven-year felony, Wilkinson, who worked as a corrections officer both for Michigan’s prisons and the Genesee County Jail, can serve his sentence without having a criminal conviction stain his record.

Though his sentencing judge expressed concern over Wilkinson’s behavior and referred to numerous community letters advocating for his incarceration, he stated the sentence he imposed would be the best way to monitor his conduct.

Wilkinson, now 27, appeared via Zoom before visiting Saginaw County Circuit Judge James T. Borchard for sentencing on April 25. Wilkinson in March pleaded guilty as charged to the lone count he faced — second-degree torturing or …